Families accuse council of grave mistake after it gives wine makers next to a church where locals are buried an alcohol licence, sparking fears mourners will be disturbed by boozy antics

Families have accused a council of a mistake after it handed out an alcohol licence to wine makers near a church due to fears funeral mourners will be disturbed.

Locals in Hothfield, near Ashford, Kent, said the happy boozy atmosphere will be heard at the more sombre setting of St Margaret's Church - where burials are still held.

Thirteen letters of objection were sent to Ashford Borough Council from immediate neighbours.

But the authority nevertheless granted Nine Oaks Vineyard a licence to sell alcohol with conditions at a recent council meeting.  

Hothfield parish councillor Simon Brock said after the council meeting: 'The area of the church that is closest to the licensable area is where most recent burials are - so where you have most numbers of people visiting their graves and people who are being buried there.

'So there could be a potential conflict between a happy event one side of the fence and a sad event on the other.'

Villager Jennifer Boorman said in a written submission to the council: 'Families visiting graves would be greatly disturbed by people drinking, laughing and generally making a lot of noise.'

The objections come after some open-air theatre events were held at the vineyard last summer.

But locals said these had 20 to 40 visitors and caused little disturbance.

Although these events will continue to have up to 250 people allowed to attend, the business owners do not anticipate they will reach those numbers.

Concerns were also raised about potential traffic problems on the narrow lane which leads to the vineyard.

Another objector, Sheila Flynn, told the sub-committee: 'Church Lane has a high proportion of vulnerable road users - that is pedestrians, dog walkers, cyclists and people who are mobility impaired.

'The road is only wide enough for one vehicle and there is a blind bend and crest.

'There could potentially be hundreds of people leaving an event and most people would come by car.'

The vineyard's owners, husband and wife Martyn Pollock and Helen Matheson-Pollock, applied for a premises licence to sell alcohol from 10am to 6pm from Thursdays to Sundays.

They reduced that from the original request of 10am to 10pm seven days a week as villagers' concerns were increasingly expressed.

All objections to the council were written before the application was changed on March 7.

The couple also want to hold pre-booked small group vineyard tours of 60 to 90 minutes, with wine tasting.

These would be up to twice a day between Thursdays and Sundays and for 10 to 30 people at a time.

No complaints were received by the council about noise from the three events held on the site last year.

Mr Pollock, who is also a Hothfied parish councillor, told the sub-committee: 'We have made significant concessions over the hours. In terms of wine tasting, it would be 50 millilitres of four different wines so the total would be 200 millilitres.'

A large glass of wine is sold at 250 millilitres in the UK.

Mr Pollock said that no other alcohol would be available for consumption on the premises and added: 'Anyone showing signs of intoxication would not be served.'

Mrs Matheson-Pollock, who was born in the village, told the sub-committee that the sale of alcohol would be limited to bottles of wine produced on the vineyard, for consumption off the premises.

She said: 'We live very close to the vineyard ourselves and we don't want any of our activities to negatively impact on local residents.

'We want to share the vineyard with our local community and the broader community through a small foray into vineyard tours.'

The couple, who have run the business for four years, stress that they would avoid their events and tours clashing with church events and would alter their schedule when needed.

They added that most visitors would come in by minibus and parking would be within the vineyard premises.

Speaking to MailOnline today, the couple said they have arranged a meeting with the reverend in the church to discuss the possibility of them being flexible when it comes to church events to avoid any big clashes in the calendar. 

They also mentioned that the border between the church and the vineyard will soon have a six metre access track added as some of the wooded land between the two neighbours is being sold. 

The sub-committee granted the licence to Nine Oaks Vineyard on March 26 with conditions, including that the council should be liaised with for large events and records kept of any incidents.

Other conditions included there should be appropriate barriers, signs and marshalling should be undertaken to match the scale of an event.

Alcohol should also be consumed within designated areas and supervised by staff.

Nine Oaks Vineyard describes itself as a family business that is passionate about viticulture, the land it works and the wines it produces.

On its website, it writes: 'From vine to wine and from grape to glass we are committed to making small batch, estate grown wines that are a true expression of our boutique vineyard in the heart of the Kent countryside.'

The business was started in 2020 when the grapes were first planted. 

It currently sells a 2022 Chardonnay, a 2023 Pinot Noir Rosé and a 2023 Bacchus for around £20 each on its website.

Tours and tastings will soon be able to be pre-booked on the company's website as the licence does not allow walk-in attendance.